A Charleston woman was arrested for animal cruelty, obstruction

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A Kanawha County woman has been arrested on animal cruelty charges after she was caught on video earlier this month hitting a dog, according to court records.

Bobbie Copen, 57, of Charleston, was charged with obstructing a humane officer and cruelty to an animal after she was caught on video picking up a dog by the neck while punching it several times times, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

The complaint said when authorities later tried to identify Copen because of the active investigation into the incident, she refused and fled the scene in a car.

Copen was taken to the Southcentral Regional Jail, where she is being held on $6,000 cash-only bail.